I’ve been doing something the last few days that I hate doing. I’ve been getting up early to run. Now, I’m not talking crazy early, but I’ve been getting out the door by 7:00. I like to say that I only wake up early to run only if I’m getting a shiny medal. For the most part that is true and it’s not like I’m doing track workouts at 5:30 in the morning like some Mama’s I know. Unfortunately, my training called for runs that really need the light of day. If I want to be ready for the shiny awesome medal in October than that means a few “early” workouts at least until the kids get back in school.
So what have I been doing?
Wednesday – 9 miles with average pace of 11:15 in 1:41:23.
More night time running which is good and bad. I would like to say that it was cooler, but it really was still hot and humid. My pace was supposed 10:50, but it was hard to maintain that pace in the dark even with all my lights.
Thurs: Aerobic: 4 miles Average pace 11:46. Easy to keep +++ pace with heavy legs.
I like “easy” miles. Although nothing is easy when in comes to putting in so many miles. Although my feet have been feeling good, my quads have been feeling tight. Might be because I’ve been doing so many miles and probably not stretching or rolling as much as I should. Truth be told is that it is hard enough to find all the hours it takes to get my run in, let alone add the extra time for that.
Fri: Aerobic: 10 miles – Aaverage Pace 11:01 in 1:49:27
This was the the transition to an “early” run. Truth be told it really wasn’t early as I didn’t get out the door till 8:00 AM. I should have left a little earlier, but this was still better than leaving at 11:00 AM. My quads were still tight making legs feel heavy and me feel a little sluggish. Luckily this was a run where it was more about miles than pace and my goal was to stay in the 10:50 to 11:00 range. Some miles better than others, but overall a decent run and the overall average pace was on target.
11:00, 11:04, 11:29, 11:01,10:49, 10:39, 10:46, 10:49, 10:51, 11:46
Sat: Aerobic: 4 miles average pace 13:03
This run I went out with the intention of finding house #13 for my MRTT scavenger hunt. Hey, you’ve got to do something to keep your mind occupied while training. I had a route lined up as my friend lives at #10 on a street. Got to her street and the numbers on her street went from 11 to 15. Grrr. So I started making my way home, going down other streets to find the ever ellusive number 13. Shockingly many streets were just like the first. I did finally find one:) More truth, I would never live in a house number 13. Yeah, I’m a little superstitious. Maybe I shouldn’t be because literally right after house number 13, I almost ran into some wild life which I also needed for my hunt.
What is life if it’s not fun?
Sun: Off:
Off from running. Did go to a Yoga class with at Athleta with my MRTT group. This class felt so good and it made me realize that I need to get back to yoga. I also realized that I haven’t been all summer. Maybe this has something to do with why my quads are so tight.
Mon: MP Aerobic: 15 miles Average pace 10:34 in 2:38:40 but overall time was 3:38:38
I needed to get this run done early because I didn’t want to do it at night since I was going to be running 8 miles of it at marathon pace. I also didn’t want to be running in the heat of the day. Luckily, Genine, wanted to run a few miles but she needed to run early. So we made plans to meet at 7:00 AM which was perfect for me. Without knowing that she would be meeting me, I’m fairly certain I would have wasted my morning and not gotten out till at least 8:00. That being said, I think the first thing I said to her when I saw her was “this sucks.” I was kind of dreading this run since it was such a long one, but it all worked out. My legs felt better and I’m not sure if it was extra rolling and stretching or yoga.
Genine stayed with me for the first couple of miles which was good. I still wasn’t feeling it, but I was already a few miles into it, so what choice did I have but to keep going. I hit most of the targets and did use fuel which I haven’t been using on my long runs but since I was running at marathon pace, I got to use fuel. I didn’t get a chance to eat before I left since I burnt my toast, I used a gel with caffeine instead. Then around mile 3, I ate 2 of jelly belly sport jelly beans (love them). Then I had another gel with caffeine at mile 8 and Gatorade at mile 10. Not sure if this was too much fuel for this run, but I figured since I didn’t have breakfast and hadn’t eaten anything since 7:30 the night before I needed it. Plus even though it was early, it was already hot and humid. Plus, I am such a hot mess when I run I think I needed it. Might need to think about Gatorade more as it really hit the spot!
Now the reason that my overall time was so much more than my actual running time is that I plan my runs so that I can refill my water bottle and I also have to wait at intersections and such. Still shocked at the difference as I didn’t realize I slowed down that much. Anyway, first water stop was at the park for bathroom break, refill bottles, a few pictures for my scavenger hunt. Then my second stop was at the 7-elleven where I normally stop to buy a $1 bottle of water. For this run though, I decided to get Gatorade for some reason. Nothing ever tasted so good. I might have to think about using this again although I don’t know that it would always taste as good as it did on this run.
11:10, 11:46, 10:59, 10:01, 9:44, 10:25, 9:57, 9:59, 9:48, 10:03, 9:59, 10:43, 11:00, 10:50, 12:11
I timed it that this run would end at Dunkin Donuts where I could get a nice recovery iced latte. Some people do look at you a little funny when your in line, but what’s a girl to do. I want (need) my iced latte and I can’t help it that I look like I ran through the sprinklers. I then cooled down with a short walk home. I’m also wondering if this is why my overall time is so much different too. I don’t think I reset (ended) my run until I got home, So who knows.
I don’t have my schedule for this week yet as I get my schedule on Tuesday’s. I’m curious as to what this week will bring. Last week since I had the long run with 8 miles at marathon pace, I didn’t have a tempo run which was nice. I’m thinking that I won’t be so lucky 2 weeks in a row!
How is your training going?
How do you fuel for your runs?
The Accidentally Running Mama 